Uxbridge delays vote on shooting bylaw

Regional councillor Jack Ballinger has issue tabled until July 14

Shooting club

Photo by Peter Redman

UXBRIDGE -- Manager and chief instructor Doug Baker took a shot at a target at the Uxbridge Shooting Sports club. The club, which has been in operation since 1967 on the large rural property south of town, hosts occasional shooting events during the year and has almost 200 members. April 12, 2014.

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With his colleagues set to vote on the controversial bylaw, which has been more than a year in the making, Coun. Ballinger asked for a two-week delay so he could tour homes located near Uxbridge Shooting Sports and speak to residents who signed a petition last year against an increase in hours of operation for the club.

The petition, he says, didn’t deal with the sound emanating from gunshots at the club, which has been located at 5700 Concession Rd. 4 in Uxbridge for nearly 50 years, but rather just the hours of operation.

The bylaw, however, applies to both sound and the hours. Coun. Ballinger says he wants more information before voting.

“I want to talk to more residents out there,” Coun. Ballinger said. “The bottom line on (the petition) where they signed is ‘yes I support limiting the shotgun club to its traditional shooting hours’. They signed that. They didn’t sign anything about noise. Nothing.

“Why I am asking to table this, just to the next meeting, is I want to talk to all the people out there. Is it the hours of operation or is it about noise?”

Coun. Ballinger took issue last week as the final draft of the bylaw stated that Uxbridge Shooting Sports would need to get sound levels down to 45 decibels within a few years. He believes anything under 70 should be acceptable and suggested 45 was unattainable.

Meanwhile, residents say they’ve been clear about their issues regarding the noise through many deputations and letters to council and that, at this point, the original petition is not relevant to the issues at hand involving noise.

“That petition that he is speaking about is a year old and it was the very first step in a long process,” Angela Duggan said during an emotional address to council members at the end of the meeting.

She also questioned the timing of Coun. Ballinger’s decision to seek more information.

“He’s had a year and a bit. Why all of the sudden now is he deciding he is going to take an active role and visit the 90-some-odd people that signed the petition?”

Coun. Ballinger’s motion to table was met with a 3-3 tie among councillors, before Mayor Gerri Lynn O’Connor voted in favour of it.

That prompted groans and comments from many local residents who were on hand at council hoping to see the bylaw voted on. Others walked out of the meeting upon hearing the decision.

Mayor O’Connor opted to support Coun. Ballinger’s motion despite agreeing with residents that council has had adequate time to do its homework.

“Everybody on this council has had enough time to deal with this. So I’m not giving any more time (after this),” said Mayor O’Connor. “Whatever is going to be is going to be and it’s too bad that this came up at the last minute here.”

She said the close vote to allow Coun. Ballinger to do more fact gathering won’t impact on the final vote on June 14.

“I think you’ll be surprised to see how the vote goes,” Mayor O’Connor said. “This bylaw will be passed.”

(1) Comment

By Bear Child|JUNE 30, 2014 03:15 PM

Why is it that people move into an area where a shooting range has been operating for FIFTY years, and then start lobbying for by-law changes to force it to shut down.
There's something drastically wrong with the anti-gun crowd, who because of the hoplophobia are always trying to disrupt trap shooters from enjoying their relatively innocuous sport. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoplophobia